


If Only They Taught That In School

by bellamythology (onemanbellarmy)



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Meet-Cute, Tutoring, bellamy is not smooth at all
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-07
Updated: 2016-05-07
Packaged: 2018-06-07 01:05:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 720
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6778783
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/onemanbellarmy/pseuds/bellamythology
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Clarke shot a weary look at the guy who was already pulling work from her little cousin’s file. She’d seen him around school a few times, but she couldn’t remember his name. Blake, maybe?</p><p>“Hi, Charlotte.” He looked up — or rather, down — making eye contact with the smaller girl, and Clarke knew immediately that she’d never seen him smile before. She would’ve remembered if she had; it was a warm smile, lighting up his dark eyes and making the recipient feel like maybe the world wasn’t against them after all.</p>
            </blockquote>





	If Only They Taught That In School

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Moucaaa](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Moucaaa/gifts).



> As I told [Anya](http://itwontsurvivemee.tumblr.com), I've been wanting to write a fic based on my workplace for a while. Probably gonna expand this into a longer fic at some point, because I have a lot of opinions about my job.

“But Clarke, I don’t want to!”

“You know it’s not up to me, Char. I’m just your ride, now that I have my driver’s license.” Clarke shot a weary look at the guy who was already pulling papers out of her cousin’s file. She’d seen him around school a few times, but she couldn’t remember his name. Blake, maybe?

“Hi, Charlotte.” He looked up — or rather, down — making eye contact with the smaller girl, and Clarke knew immediately that she’d never seen him smile before. She would’ve remembered if she had; it was a warm smile, lighting up his dark eyes and making the recipient feel like maybe the world wasn’t against them after all.

“Bellamy!” She brightened immediately, handing over the stack that comprised last week’s homework. “Are you sitting at the reading table today?”

He glanced ruefully at the kids’ table next to his desk —  big and low to the ground, surrounded by tiny chairs. “Until Monty gets here, yeah. Here’s your homework” — she took the stack solemnly, carefully stuffing it into her bag — “and your classwork.” He handed her three more packets; she took them and skipped over to the table, bypassing the desks lining the room.

As Charlotte settled in, pulling a pencil from her bag to neatly write her name at the top of each packet, the guy grinned at Clarke. “First time? Yours, I mean — obviously I know Charlotte. She’s a great kid — usually comes in later, though.”

“My little cousin,” Clarke explained. “I just got my driver’s license, so our parents decided it was easier and safer for me to drop her off than for her to walk over from school.”

“That’s good. Between you and me, she’s one of my favorites — wouldn’t want anything to happen to her.” As he spoke, he tucked Charlotte’s papers into a plastic pouch that he then tossed onto the desk _._ “I’m Bellamy, by the way. Bellamy Blake. You’re Clarke, right? I’ve seen you around. I mean, not _here_ , but, you know, at school and stuff.”

She nodded. “How long have you been working here?”

Bellamy shrugged, stacking pouches against the filing crates. “Almost two years now. Feels like forever, you know? Something about the rhythm of this place. Speaking of, Kane’s always looking for new workers.” There was an almost shy tone to his voice at this last bit, hopeful but cautious.

“Yeah? I’ve been thinking about getting a job to help pay for gas.”

“Well, the pay’s crap,” Bellamy informed her frankly. “But most of the kids are sweet, except the ones who really don’t want to be here. And it’s easy stuff, except for the fact that the system is needlessly complicated and basically sets you up to fail, because human error is very much a thing.”

Clarke was startled into a laugh; he seemed pleasantly surprised.

“ _Bell_ amy, I’m ready to start!” Charlotte called, waving her pencil.  


Scrubbing a hand through his messy curls, Bellamy sighed, though he was still smiling. “I should get back to it   — but hey, if you want, I’ll put in a word with Kane when he gets back. I’m one of his favorites,” he confided, sounding just like a little kid explaining proudly that they were the favorite child.

“I’ll give you my number then, so you can let me know how it goes.”   


“Really? I mean, yeah, of course, that’s a good idea.” He fumbled for his phone in his back pocket, shook his head, and grabbed it off the desk.

Once she’d added herself as a contact (and texted herself so that she had his number, in case she had to make the first move again) and handed the phone back, Clarke added, “I guess I’ll see you around.”

“Yeah, I guess.” Bellamy gave her a quick smile before heading over to help Charlotte.

* * *

A month later, Clarke handed Charlotte off to Bellamy as she went into Kane’s office to clock in. When she came out, her cousin was already situated at the reading table with Monty, who looked up and nodded in friendly greeting.

Clarke set her backpack and phone down, settling in at the tables across the room, reserved for grading papers. As she and Bellamy juggled papers and pouches back and forth between them, she smiled, wondering what else they might accomplish together.

**Author's Note:**

> Come talk to [me](http://bellamythology.tumblr.com) on Tumblr!


End file.
